It just goes to show that being born royal and wearing designer clothes is no guarantee of good manners. They seem incredibly proud of the fact that their Crown Prince publicly displayed the worst royal manners seen in decades! Insulting your guests at a Formal Reception is incredibly vulgar.

Since speeches are written in advance of such occasions this was a calculated and deliberate slap in the face to Prince Charles and to Her Majesty and her Government. How lucky we are that Prince Charles knows a political manoeuvre when he sees one and did not take the opportunity to deploy his well honed wit and spontaneously reciprocate.

I thought the Spanish Royal Family had more "class".

All Felipe had been saying was that 'I also express my wish that both governments make progress towards a new solution to our historical bilateral dispute', why is it an insult to Charles or QEII ? Charles is pretty much treated like the Head of State in Spain, the speech made by Felipe is rather standard for a state dinner, all the details should have been pre approved by the foreign ministry and reflected the thoughts of the Spanish government.

All Felipe had been saying was that 'I also express my wish that both governments make progress towards a new solution to bilateral our historic controversy', why is it an insult to Charles or QEII ? Charles is pretty much treated like the Head of State in Spain, the speech made by Felipe is rather standard for a state dinner, all the details should have been pre approved by the foreign ministry and reflected the thoughts of the Spanish government.

Maybe you have to know the back ground or that translate strangly because the sentance made no sense to me....

Maybe you have to know the back ground or that translate strangly because the sentance made no sense to me....

He was hoping both countries make progress in resolving the historical bilateral dispute over Gilbraltar. There were talks on the British side to include Gilbraltar on the agenda, but finally Charles didn't visit Gilbraltar. Before the gala, the Spanish PM and Charles held a talk on bilateral 'cooperation' to solve the Gibraltar dispute.

Since speeches are written in advance of such occasions this was a calculated and deliberate slap in the face to Prince Charles and to Her Majesty and her Government. How lucky we are that Prince Charles knows a political manoeuvre when he sees one and did not take the opportunity to deploy his well honed wit and spontaneously reciprocate.

I thought the Spanish Royal Family had more "class".

Do you honestly think that Felipe will read a speech at such an important event that hasnt been "okayed" by any ministry that is possibly involved? I am sure there were no suprises at all for Charles or his entourage, usually all issues are being dealt with in advance by people who are behind the scenes, while royals do the media part and talk within the boundaries the goverments have already set.

If the Formal Dinner was a pre arranged political discussion Prince Charles would have replied in kind as per the Foreign Office guideline, he did not.

So while the Spanish may have okayed it I doubt very much the British got a heads up or Prince Charles speech would have been a diplomatic response. Instead he was speaking on an entirely different subject and the local papers are celebrating the Fillipe's trouncing of Charles.

__________________MARG"Words ought to be a little wild, for they are assaults of thoughts on the unthinking." - JM Keynes

Although during his stay in Madrid, Charles and Camilla have been accompanied by Prince Felipe and Princess Letizia, the meeting this with Don Juan Carlos and Queen Sofia is part of the extreme climate of friendship and kinship that unites the two royal families .

Carlos de Inglaterra visit el centro de Repsol en Mstoles
Prince Philip visited Móstoles Tecnológico for the second time in two weeks. If the first time was only ThyssenKrupp facility, last Thursday was a side of luxury: Prince Charles, who visited with the Prince of Asturias Technology Center Repsol.

Prince of Wales and Camilla are resting this weekend on an estate of the Duke of Wellington, whose property is full of controversy and is of dubious legality... and the Spanish government has respected that visit, I think that the Prince of Wales can´t be upset.

Prince of Wales and Duchess or Cornwall’s visit stirs up estate dispute

" Royal Highnesses, Your presence in Spain encourages us to go deeply into our common will to contribute that the United Kingdom and the Kingdom of Spain - our institutions, universities, companies, artists and citizens-, extend day after day their understanding and collaboration. In that timeframe I also hope that our authorities make progress in resolving the historic bilateral dispute that is still pending."

He was hoping both countries make progress in resolving the historical bilateral dispute over Gilbraltar. There were talks on the British side to include Gilbraltar on the agenda, but finally Charles didn't visit Gilbraltar. Before the gala, the Spanish PM and Charles held a talk on bilateral 'cooperation' to solve the Gibraltar dispute.

There is a time and place for everything and as the political side had be dealt with prior to the Gala, Filipe's statement was insulting as he knew that Charles, on behalf of his country, could not and would not respond. It was a cheap shot and unworthy of his position.

__________________MARG"Words ought to be a little wild, for they are assaults of thoughts on the unthinking." - JM Keynes

Those kind of things are known beforehand, as others have already said I'm sure Charles and the British delegation were informed before. In any case it's not as if Felipe started shouting at Charles, "you filthy invader of foreign countries, Gibraltar Español!!, he only hoped a solution could be reached. It's a very important point in the bilateral relations between Spain and the UK, it won't dissapear if the royals don't mention it.

A storm in a teacup ..? I see nothing wrong with Crown Prince Felipe's speech. Furthermore, Prince Charles' feelings are totally irrelevant. If Prince Charles took any offence at what was said, he could put it in his personal journal and allow his assistant to leak it to the public. It is the way things are done in the British royal family.

__________________"I never did mind about the little things"
Amanda, "Point of No Return"

A storm in a teacup ..? I see nothing wrong with Crown Prince Felipe's speech. Furthermore, Prince Charles' feelings are totally irrelevant. If Prince Charles took any offence at what was said, he could put it in his personal journal and allow his assistant to leak to the public. It is the way things are done in the British royal family.

Ouch! Nasty

__________________MARG"Words ought to be a little wild, for they are assaults of thoughts on the unthinking." - JM Keynes